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Biography

Richard Andrews joined UEA as a Professor in Education in May 2016. His previous posts include professorships in English and Education at the universities of York, Hull, Middlesex and, most recently, UCL Institute of Education in London, where he was Dean of the Faculty of Children and Learning. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences; a member of the All Souls Group, Oxford on education policy; and a network member of the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge. His recent books include Re-framing Literacy(2011), A Theory of Contemporary Rhetoric (2014) and A Prosody of Free Verse: explorations in rhythm (2016) – all through Routledge. He is lead editor for the Sage Handbook of Digital Dissertations and Theses (2012) and co-editor of the second edition of the Sage Handbook of E-learning Research (2016). He is Chair of the International Advisory Board and co-series editor for the Cambridge School Shakespeare (Cambridge University Press).

His research interests include argumentation at school and university levels; writing development; rhetoric, poetry and poetics; learning theory; and research methodologies and methods for the digital age.

Key Research Interests

These include argumentation at school and university levels; writing development, including the impact of dialect and accent on literacy; poetry and poetics; the theory of rhetoric and its applications in multimodality, contemporary communication and writing; and research methodologies and methods for the digital age.

PhD and EdD supervision

Professor Andrews is keen to receive applications from potential research students in any of the above areas; and additionally in first and second language education, language policy, social semiotics and the arts. He has supervised over 20 research degrees to successful completion.

In 2014 I undertook a scoping review with colleagues at University College London (UCL) on the relationship between indoor school environments, physical activity, behaviour and pedagogy. The report of the study was published in 2015 in Building Research & Information.

Abstract: Physical activity levels in children are low and sitting time high, despite the health benefits of regular physical activity and limited sitting. Children spend a large proportion of their time at school, hence school-based interventions targeting physical activity and sitting behaviour may be important. Whilst some aspect of school buildings, their layout and furniture may influence childrens' physical activity and sitting, these effects could be intertwined with pedagogical approaches. This scoping review aims to identify gaps in the research literature regarding the influence of the indoor school environment on pedagogical approaches and on physical activity and sitting. In primary schools, it was found that physical activity can be integrated into lessons with some benefits on academic behaviour and possible academic performance. Overall, however, the role of the indoor built environment is poorly investigated, although a handful of studies suggest that a radical change in primary school classrooms may increase physical activity and that stand-biased desks may be promising. This study provides a contribution to the emerging research fields of 'active design' from the perspective of indoor school design, highlighting a dearth of research, especially on sitting and for secondary education, and a lack of relevant conceptual frameworks.

‘To what extent does a regional accent impact on the development of reading and writing skills?'

This project, undertaken with Dr Julia Snell of the University of Leeds, was commissioned by the BBC. We did an extensive scoping review, looking at research since the 1960s in the UK, wider Europe and the USA. The full report was submitted to the BBC in June 2014, and a distillation in article form is to be published in the Cambridge Journal of Education. Once the article is published more widely, we hope to build on the research to undertake an empirical study in the field.

Abstract: The issue of whether a regional accent and/or dialect impacts on the development of literacy skills remains current in the UK. For decades the issue has dogged debate about education outcomes, portable skills and employability. The article summarises research on the topic in England, using systematic review methodology. A scoping review was undertaken with the research question ‘To what extent does a regional dialect and accent impact on the development of reading and writing skills?’.The research covers research relevant to the teaching of 5-16 year olds in England, but also draws on research within Europe and the USA. The results suggest there has been little research on the topic in England since the 1970s; that curricula have marginalized accent and/or dialect; that where intervention takes place to improve literacy skills, it is better focused on the verb phrase than on accent or dialect; and that young people are adept at style-shifting between standard and non-standard forms.

’To what extent does a regional dialect and accent impact on the development of reading and writing skills?’ (with Julia Snell), accepted for publication by Cambridge Journal of Education, November 2015. Now in press.

External Activities and Indicators of Esteem

Recent keynote addresses

‘The importance of rhetoric and argumentation in school’, Conference on Rhetorical Education and the Democratic Mission of the School, University of Orebro, Sweden, October 2017

‘The crisis in teacher preparation: a look at the U.S., England and Spain’, Symposium in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University, March 2016

‘Writing in higher education: what is happening, and what are the possibilities?’ Writing across the Disciplines in Higher Education conference, Coventry University, July 2014

‘Digital literacies: the dissertation and the future of research in the humanities and social sciences’, Liverpool John Moores University, April 2014

‘Digital publishing in the arts, humanities and social sciences’, School of Advanced Studies, University of Nottingham, March 2013

‘Building programmes and partnerships: New York University, the University of London and beyond’, British Council, New York, May 2012

‘Non-verbal argument’, Symposium on Representing Research Knowledge, Royal College of Art, London, February 2012

Recent guest lectures

‘The Research and Teaching Excellence Frameworks’ and ‘Argumentation in Higher Education’ at Fudan University, Shanghai, November 2017

‘Argumentation in higher education in the UK’, East China Normal University, Shanghai, November 2017

‘Argumentation in academic writing’ and ‘Writing across the disciplines’, Chinese University of Hong Kong, May 2016

‘Argumentation at undergraduate, Masters and doctoral levels’, University of Aberdeen, January 2014

‘Multimodality, digitization and the nature and format of theses/dissertations’, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, May 2013